Method To Madness
by ashleysays
Summary: After a run in with enemy ninja and their failed jutsu, Sakura finds herself landed in Konoha's insane asylum. "The people running this place are the real crazy ones." KakaSaku/Sasusaku
1. Chapter 1

Method to Madness

chapter 1

* * *

The place that all this cackling begins; your mindset is the source.

I gain respect with actions. You gain respect by force.

And if you don't believe me, I'll chop out the brains of the sane.

You will see that they think differently than you.

You will see that you are not the same.

And when you feel depressed you can call me before your dead.

I'll tell you to go home and put a bullet through your head.

* * *

The rudimentary boughs of the forest were causing her to slip. Following Pakkun through the village's familiar territory was hard enough. Kakashi had loaned her this specific dog to track with through waterfall. If he thought she couldn't take care of herself- he was pathetic. After a failed mission one month ago the former ANBU captain had taken extra precautions to make sure his only female student was under enough supervision while out of his sight.

Ino had joked about him sticking to her like E. Coli to a pound of room temperature meat. It was flattering at first to have the man show so much interest in her after ignoring her for her entire life. Though, now, it seemed that he was going a little too far.

She looked back to the other seven ninken bickering amongst each other. A deep sigh left her lips- causing Pakkun, the head dog of the pack, to acknowledge her detached appearance.

"What's your problem girlie?" the ruffles of his caramel-brown brow seemed to droop slightly to the side. His henohenomoheji cape flapped in the wind- only adding to her adhoration to Kakashi's recent habit.

"Your _master_ has had you babysitting me for the last three days." She wasn't looking for pity from this pug, though it wouldn't make her feel any worse. He seemed to be as against this as herself.

"It's not like we don't have better things to do than guard some human; I know that you can defend yourself. But Kakashi is just worried. After that mission he's come to realize that he can't protect all three of you himself and I don't want to see his face when he loses another teammate. Besides, tomorrow you'll meet back up with your team and we'll be out of your hair. Well....until the next detach mission."

She sighed again. That damn mission! They just _had _to run into Orochimaru and Naruto just _had _to go into Kyuubi mode right in the middle of the fight. Of course if Kakashi had been there instead of Yamato taichou he would have been the one to stop her. But he was relaxing in the hospital looped up on pain medication while she naively ran to her demonized teammate to help.

This _was _her own fault; so she couldn't over react. If it had been Naruto, Kakashi, or Sai who had been hurt in such a way wouldn't she overreact as well? She pondered this for a while- gliding through the forest absently.

"Sakura!" Pakkun jumped to the dirt path below them, followed by the rest of the ninken. Sakura, being the only human, landed in last.

"What is it?" she kneeled next to the crouching pug behind a thicket of ferns.

"I can smell enemy ninja ahead of us. Their coming in this direction, and fast."

"How long do we have till they reach us?" she asked, looking to the forward direction.

"About a minute. Keiiji, how many are there?" Pakkun looked hopefully to a hound to her right.

The Shiba Inu's forehead tattoo crinkled as he slightly ducked his head towards the wind. "Three. No four. The other is definitely the leader. He's staying behind to sense for enemy chakra. He probably already knows we're here." Sakura never held a conversation with a dog before, but this one seemed to be second in command. He was about to sakura's hip when she stood. Though twice the size around.

"We need to call for the others for backup," Pakkun looked to the rosette woman once more. "They already know our location. Can you set off an explosion that they'll hear?"

The others were only a mile out. Kakashi, being faster than the either Sai or Naruto, would arrive in two minutes. The others; about four. She rummages through her rear pack- grasping a large paper bomb, clasped it to the nearest tree and used the ditch on the other side of the path as a makeshift shield.

* * *

Kakashi's earpiece fuzzed as he tried desperately to tune into the other three. He was out of range and the only thing to be heard would be static until they reached Warabi Falls. Once there he would be able to relax and know that nobody had been harmed.

He would have sent Naruto with Sakura, but after he attacked her a month ago he couldn't take the chance of them running into Orochimaru again. Sai was an ANBU but had he learned from Yamato that the boy hadn't even thought to help Sakura when she fell from the cliff- passing her on his ink-bird without another look. He had to say that it irked him. He shouldn't hold a grudge with Sai, though this was the very reason he was not teamed with him. Why is it always that they have to split into _three _groups. Tsuande just _won't _give him a break.

"k...kash............." Naruto's voice graded through the static- though not understandable. He was either calling for Kakashi or asking for a little extra cash. He didn't bother trying back. The last three hours had been dedicated to reaching either Sakura or Pakkun. Why he had a bad feeling about today, he had not the slightest idea. But it couldn't be good.

"........" Kakashi's ear hounded him. "....Wh.....fu..ing...bastard." The static wasn't as pronounced as before. Sakura's communicator- he guessed. There was no doubt she was mumbling harsh things about him under her breath. She hadn't meant for him to hear- Sakura never being the kind to throw around insults. She was better than that. Though she let up at times. She was said to be a second Tsunade after all.

If she had wished for the Copy nin to hear she would have yelled it to him back at base that morning. He had told her the relevance of having the ninken trailing her and her face twisted into and unfamiliar setting. Wracking his brain daily to get even a little hint of what she was thinking, he would only emerge at the end of the day, carrying the luggage of extra confusion on his back.

He didn't have children because he didn't have a wife. He didn't have a wife because he hadn't found the right woman. He hadn't found the right woman because he could never interpret them. This led to his alcoholism, monogamy, philanderment, and recent smoking addiction. He was falling apart, he might as well have fun during..right?

Oh, how he wished he women in Konoha were like Jiraya's characters! That way he wouldn't have to go to a bar to find someone to relieve himself with. Last time his choices were pretty good actually. The one he ended up taking home was about 5'3. Normal size breasts, blue eyes, fair complexion, and deep brown hair. But, women aren't like in books. He had to wait until she had a few drinks in her to even think of approaching as to make sure her bitterness would ware off. Whatever had led her to go to that bar must not have been pretty. Perhaps a fight with a boyfriend- or girlfriend....he could only dream.

Yes, the woman scared the shit out of him, and from the look of it, the bartender as well. She was a beautiful woman, the way she held herself was just a little too intimidating for men of lesser self-esteem. But, being one to never back out of a challenge, Kakashi wished to leave with the best pick in the place.

If you were to ask the copy nin the name of his _house_ _guest_ that night he would babble like an idiot while searching the recesses of his mind for the memory. He hadn't been drunk, though she was more hammered than a nail- just never prone to listening to a woman's inebriated babbling. His routine strictly forbade this. Only nodding when necessary, a few words to hint towards leaving, and creating the facade of being the man she always dreamed of.

Every woman was the same. They want a man that's funny, slightly egocentric, confident, passionate, mysterious, and a good listener. Not to mention loaded. The only hard part was knowing which was the right quality to use at the right time. This woman had seemed to be more interested in the confidence area. As soon as he approached her they seemed to be thinking the same thing.

It only took a simple question to start it off with. 'What is a young lady like you doing in _this _bar?' almost immediately after, she began rambling out an answer. He wasn't listening so much as he was calculating her body. He heard a few things like: "Cheating", "Payback", and "another three shots, please".

It was the next morning that he regretted. Whatever her name was, she had elected herself to cooking him breakfast and thanking him for the 'good fuck'- then talking about her husband and how this was what he deserved after what he said. Kakashi was in a shocked state of late. How was he going to get the new copy of Icha Icha without facing her husband, working at the book shop as he always had. The _only _shop that sold said novels.

These kind of women, who seemed to take up almost all of the world's population, were utterly easy for him to decipher. In his time on this earth the sole difference to this fact was Sakura. He'd lost count of how many times in a day her actions would surprise him. Ugh, he needed to read some Icha Icha. He'd been thinking too hard lately.

The silver crowned Jounin rummaged his rear pack for the rectangular novel- pulling out its tattered form and opening to random dog-eared pages. He had read this red copy dozens of times while waiting for Jiraiya to update the collection, causing him to have it memorized by phrase, page, and punctuation. He began where he had left off that morning.

_'Shinosuke groaned, his breath becoming ragged. Kagura clutched the sheets for support; her insides tightening around the man hovering himself above her. Her moans only added to his extacy. "Please." she gasped for air, running her nails down his back. He was going to explode."_

Boom! Kakashi launched to the ground for cover. An automatic reflex of a man engrossed in reading erotica.

"Sakura!"

* * *

"Nice one!" Tora, the largest hound, congratulated. That paper bomb was specifically made for situations like this very one. To distract and notify. At least three trees were leveled into the middle of the dirt road causing three ninken to dodge effectively.

Sakura was never one too good at hiding efficiently, forcing her to attack immediately after the enemy ninja came into sight. Team seven had been traveling for 48 hours non-stop, which subjugated Sakura to a low amount of chakra. She immediately regretted healing her arm after her last run in with an enemy. It seemed that every few days she would run into some kind of trouble. Maybe it was actually a good thing to have the hounds. She would have to thank Kakashi when she had the chance. If she lived through this, anyway.

There was enough chakra in her reservoir for one good punch. If she focused enough and rationed the chakra outtake accurately she could knock out two of them in a minute. The only problem was that she would have to stay alive afterwards for the minute more for Kakashi to arrive. She could use another paper bomb, but wouldn't be fast enough to get away after exerting all that chakra.

If she pushed her limit any more than two punches she would use up all that was left, and she wasn't willing to just let herself die without a fight. It wasn't her style.

"Well?" Pakkun shrugged his shoulders- or what it seemed- motioning his head to the largest man. He would be her first target, the leader. Then the one to his left. He seemed to be well confident in his pose. The woman next to him was petite for a kunoichi and the man next to her wasn't very much bigger.

She looked back to the pug, scowling as she did so. For a dog who couldn't fight he was bossy. If he wanted her to protect him so urgently he could at least give her some time to strategize. It's not like she planned this outcome. Pakkun lunged back five yards into the forest, leaving Sakura to herself.

"Sakura! Watch out!" He yelled between the branches of the fern he used as a cover.

She looked back to her enemies. There wasn't anything coming. No chakra engagement. Nothing. They weren't even attacking her!

"Secret Art, Mind Distortion Jutsu." The woman whispered almost incoherently, putting her hands outwards towards me. The sign she used mirrored Ino's Mind Transfer Jutsu almost exactly. The only difference was that Sakura couldn't move.

* * *

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	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to my reviewers: rushninja, LadyNorth76, awiii, kagomaru, nicolerogersXX

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* * *

Method to Madness

chapter 2

* * *

I woke to the sight of myself in the hall.

My body badly sculpted, my skin nailed to the wall.

You tell me it's not really there. You tell me it isn't true.

But death told me that next time it happened; it would happen to you.

Can't sleep, the clowns will eat me.

The patients all start laughin'.

But I tell you it's the truth; even if it didn't happen.

* * *

"Secret Technique, Mind Distortion Jutsu." the woman gave a wobbly smile, elevating her chakra and throwing it towards Sakura's immovable being.

Sakura cringed in expectancy. Ninja are predators, trained to kill showing no remorse or second thought- on command. Why had that woman whimpered when she attacked? A predator kills without the melodrama. Nobody else she had ever fought had acted in such a way. Even the unusually young ones. _They_ had come at her with full intent to _kill _her. How could Sakura fight back when that person clearly did not wish to fight her as well?

That's the thing about predators, they're unpredictable and never ceased to amaze her. They leave a statistical mark in whichever domain they wish to carry out their dirty work. Get even one of them in a large area and the homicides will start piling up like flies in a garbage heap.

The woman's chakra stopped suddenly before her, the heat radiating off of it's invisible form and wrapping around the pink medic's skin- creating an unbreakable shield.

She never intended to fight this woman in the first place, instead to use the rest that she could of her chakra to take out the other more threatening enemies and leave the others to Kakashi when he arrived. If he arrived at all, the lazy son-of-a-bitch!

Why did she have to look so depressed? Why couldn't she just attack ruthlessly like all the _others_?! Now, Sakura wasn't sure she even wanted Kakashi to fight her. Nor anyone else for that matter. Her curiosity would be the death of her, but she _had_ to know what was going on!

Sakura could feel the chakra shield placed around her slowly creeping upwards. Soon enough her lower body was free again. She didn't think to reciprocate until the chakra had finished its job, flowing into her ears. The density of another chakra her system was inadmissible, causing the team seven's medic to topple over.

* * *

Kakashi's breath came in heedful pants as he levitated his speed. The explosion had come from a mile away, he should have been there in a minute. But, himself, and his team- as he expected, were low on chakra. He could feel Sakura's petty sliver of circulating energy. He pushed for more speed.

I should have butted Tsunade harder for teams of two, he reproved himself, that girl is a danger magnet. Something was _bound _to happen. This became obvious to him when she joined team seven, handling the bell test like it was a fire near a gasoline tank for her. Back then she couldn't have fought off a child civilian. He was over exaggerating.

Just two nights ago another enemy attacked. Targeting her, _of course._Did she want to die or something?! She wasn't making his job any easier. Neither was Naruto and Sai. He called to them for backup during the attack but they never arrived, claiming that they hadn't gotten the message. Lies of course. They were at the hot springs relaxing while Kakashi and Sakura duked it out with six chuunin. By the time they redressed and arrived I was out cold with Sakura trying to dress my wounds.

Sakura's shriek stopped his tree bouncing abruptly, adjusting to running the ground at a mile eating pace.

"Kakashi," Pakkun's form skidded to his side- trailing particles of soil behind his hind legs. "Sakura's down, I don't know what kind of jutsu they used but it didn't seem to work correctly. There's four of them. Can you manage on your own?" telling by the hound's facial expression, he knew the answer.

Kakashi shook his head rapidly, as if he was trying to look both ways at the same time. "No, fetch Naruto and Sai!" his words came out into a jumble, if Pakkun hadn't had his hearing, it would have sounded like hullabaloo.

"Oh, because I'm your dog you think you can say fetch whenever the opportunity comes," he sprinted towards the direction Kakashi had come. "I'll get them, but you owe me for that one!" Pakkun 'hunpfed' and trailed off. Kakashi ignored his uproar, focusing on the whatever was ahead.

So far just trees. And trees. More trees. A bush, a stream, a flamingo, a squirrel.

His eyes swatted back to the pink blur that he absently passed moments before. _Sakura. _It was times like this he was glad of her unusual tresses. Thanks to a malfunction in genes, his death magnet was east to spot....if she wasn't in a field of cotton candy. Or Ino's room....the woman practically _lived_ the color pink, now.

Sakura seemed to be out cold when he entered the clearing, nobody else in sight. The worse hadn't happened, just the runner up. The enemy escaped- and it was his fault this happened.....again.

His arms encircled her, holding her bridal style and he sprinted back to the others. Naruto would be pissed with the false alarm. He hadn't seen any action in a while and was itching to get some. He'd started bickering fights with Sai as an outlet to use up some of his excess energy.

How were they going to make it to the port town if they're being attacked all along the way?

A drink and some Icha Icha would do him good, he decided. They set up camp until they regained their chakra and Sakura woke up. He'd be damned if he was expected to carry her to their destination. It was another day away! At running speed!

"Tch."

* * *

Kakashi threw another block of wood into the fire. The surrounding campsite was becoming chilly, Naruto complained. Kakashi felt fine. After years of ANBU missions in below zero temperature he was used to harsh cold. He hid a shiver. Yes, he was used to chill, but not adapted to it.

The other two males on the squad were bickering across the fire. Kakashi was content in eavesdropping and puffing his cigarette until the rosette woman stirred next to him. She had been out cold for the last four hours.

He let out an unrestrained sigh. Her sudden movement brought a strange, uninvited surge of upliftment- his muscles finally relaxed. Even when she was only sleeping, the feeling came to him when she woke.

It was caused from a decade before, he told himself. After waking up to find one of his teammates dead, from blood loss- the doctors said, he wondered every night if he himself would wake in the morning. He had many issues to work out, but he had the rest of his life to sort them.

He planned on living forever anyway. So far, so good.

"Ugh..." the rosette woman rasped out, rubbing her lethargic eyes in reprove. Many woman woke with a glow to themselves and others looked like they just walked through hell. Unfortunately for Sakura, she was the ladder. Her hair was almost as disheveled as Kakashi's, though not purposely like his, and her eyes temporarily baggy.

"You look like shit." Kakashi stifled a laugh. She actually looked as if she wouldn't be able to break your arm with a flick in her current state. The girl was never one to have a slight muscular body like other kunoichi. Instead, her petite frame made her look the same as in her childhood.

Not that she didn't work out. More than Kakashi did, actually. He guessed that it was just another strange attribute in her arsenal. She had constantly cursed that she didn't have a body like Ino's or Hinata's. Who would have believed that the Hyuuga heiress would actually be a curvaceous beauty compared to when she was, also, twelve.

In Kakashi's opinion, it suited her. Matched her personality. He was never one for heart-throbs, the legs and neck were his first choices. But, it was Sakura. With her dwindling self-confidence, she would have found something to hate about herself after she got bored of bad-mouthing her forehead, which wasn't as big as she made it out to be.

She had grown more into it over the years, though she hadn't changed much from her childhood. Kakashi was still afraid to touch her at times. Fearing she might crack, though he knew better to think such things of this _super-woman_.

"Shut up." her attitude was worse then her groggy looks. "Did they get away?" she squinted her eyes from the light of the wildfire flames.

"Yeah." he sighed once more. This was nothing he was in the mood to talk about. He had only once lost his target before and he wasn't going to lose them again. He had already made up his mind...when the others were asleep, he would search, torture, and kill. Well, maybe not the torture part. They probably weren't much of a threat since their jutsu didn't even seem to work properly. Weak ninja always seemed to flock around other weak ninja. Unless they have something that catches a more powerful one's eye. They're called 'the lucky ones'.

"Don't even think about it." he looked towards the comment's origination. Sakura's chin lay lightly on the back of her hand, cross legged, her elbow resting on her left thigh. He searched her expression, thinking that she wasn't talking to him after all.....Naruto and Sai were asleep already,so.... Half of her pouty lips formed an upsided smirk.

"I know you better than you think I do and I know what you're thinking. Besides, Naruto would be furious if you took them down without him. Or didn't come back at all." Her leer grew into a full sneer towards the end of her comment.

He wasn't sure if he was hearing right. "What did you say...?" Sakura was never the kind to expect the worst in a fight. She considered it bad luck to talk of death before battle. Was she saying it to try and make him think that she was jinxing him? No, she knew he didn't believe in superstition.

She never answered his question, and he was glad for it. He didn't want to hear something like that come from her again. Sakura was a gentle being, always looking for _any_ way to go about her job other than taking a life. The only time she would was when it was completely necessary. Her job was to kill, if necessary, and she had even found a way to get out of _that _by becoming a medic. He didn't know if she noticed that this was what she was doing. She seemed completely dim-witted to what others perceived of her, and to what she saw in herself.

He brushed it off, taking the first drag of his long-neglected cigarette through his mask. It would, with no doubt- leave it smelling horrid. He would have to buy another one at the port town. Besides, he didn't see her every morning right after she woke up. Perhaps, along with the mood-swings and strange appearance, she had a cynical side she hid after her cup of coffee.

She wasn't paying attention to him right now, either. It wasn't like her to stop mid-argument. Did she even mean that she didn't want him to go, or was she just looking for conversation to fill the silence. If she had been forbidding him to go she would have tied him down if she had to. Why wasn't she pushing him to stay for him own good? Why just say something like that then give up...as if she had said nothing at all?

Maybe he was just thinking too much. She was no different than before. He was just being paranoid!

"Can I read your book, Kaka sensei?"

* * *

**Thanks for reading and please review.....critisism, reivews, outraged fans for my tiny little cliffy...they're all invited openly**

**ja'ne**


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you to the reviews: kagomaru, Realtiy's the worst nightmare, LadyNorth76, shkh4ever, L,

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**I am going to douse my chapters with miracle grow.....they will be longer from now on XD......**

* * *

Method to Madness

chapter 3

* * *

_And you who planned your moist revenge-_

_I saw you coming._

_You who dared once to love me must now betray me-_

_and all because of moisture._

_Your pacing stops outside my tattered apartment._

_I smell you out there._

_Come now, revenge yourself._

* * *

"Can I read your book, Kaka sensei?" he thought she was trying to be cute. A joke...for sure.

The best way, his way, to brush off any unwise conversation was to pull out his trusty steed. But, it seemed it would not work in this situation. Sakura had lectured on several occasions that it was severely improper for any ninja to read such material and _especially_ for him to ask _her _to read it. Yes, he had asked her before if she had wanted to at least review its fine craftsmanship....more than once to be honest. Now it didn't hit the same spot. Perhaps he only enjoyed the thought of her reading porn because he knew she would always deny him? Now it was just plain creepy.

A turn of phrase should do the trick. "Have you heard that you can not always get what you want, Sakura?"

"Haven't you heard that I've always gotten' what I wanted?" Or not..... A mirthy smirk slowly grew across her face. She thought she had won?

"Not Sasuke." Perhaps he shouldn't have said that one, but whoever said he was a nice guy? Nobody. As far as he knew- everyone other than the ninja he had worked with had labeled him a sadistic bastard who preyed on younger women. In his opinion, it was merely a life-style and an inflated ego...and a bit of drinking had helped in the younger women fraction. If you take away all that, it was pretty innocent.

He waited for her depressed rants that came every time she was reminded of that night. He was doing her a favor, actually. Nobody else tried to help her get over her obsession with a lost cause like the young Uchiha. Instead they all watched in pity whenever that face would come. The face he was waiting to see.

"Perhaps you're right, Kaka sensei. No, you're definitely right," her index finger tapped her chin a few times in thought. She looked like a mad scientist. Except the kind that you would find in adult cartoons. The kind that- whenever she bent over- would allow you a glimpse of her inappropriately, suggestive panties. Though, Sakura would never do such a thing. He'd seen, not glimpses of underwear, but purely the shorts she _always_ wore under her training attire- and that wasn't even her fault.

After he had broken his arm a few months ago he had dropped his hitai-ate when she was mending the bones back together. After this little oopsie and a few seconds of her ass in the air he made a habit of 'accidentally' dropping his utensils as many times as humanly possible. At the bar, during missions, in the hospital, during training.... She had simply thought it to be sudden clumsiness (or drunkeness) but never put two-in-two together. Maybe it was a good thing that she wore those strange leggings beneath her medical uniform. If it _had_ been her underwear.....well, lets just say that she would be bending over more often.

_This _be the reason he thought it strange of her to ask such a thing. She was too naive to know he was constantly checking out her ass, therefore she must have just been joking....and if she wasn't? Why the sudden change in mood on the subject of Sasuke? Normally he would get smacked upside the head for even mentioning the name!

"....." Sakura still sat in the same manner, finger to chin, as earlier. "Do I interest you enough to stare, Kaka sensei?" she let her hand find his and smiled a toothy grin into the fire. Another joke?! If so, why was she still holding his hand, he wondered?

"Go back to sleep, Sakura." he turned into his sleeping bag, tired of thinking on this any longer.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Kaka sensei."

* * *

Kakashi had not attained a wink of sleep, nor a sliver of hope that Sakura would stop her new 'let's mystify Kakashi today' complex. Sakura ingored his orders, demanding that she _'must _keep watch for more enemies'! He was tired, no, exhausted in body and mind of this girl. So much so that, though he wanted to push their conversation from his mind, it would not filter out of his thoughts. It's like those nights you try to clear your mind and all of a sudden- when you finally are seconds from sleep- Lance Bass's face pops into your head, screaming something about bagels plastered in tomato sauce.

Ugh...he would have to get hold of Tsunade and make an urgent appointment for a heart-to-heart chat. Apparently, she was not raising her well enough. If Sakura thought it was funny to try and seduce her teacher after telling him that 'I always get what I want' line, there was something going on- and Tsunade should know. For god sake, she was basically in the same brain as the pink headed girl (who passed out in the middle of her watch, by the way). It would not suprise him that this was all Tsunade's idea to get back at him. Perhaps he shouldn't have drank all her sake while she was out of her office....

He would rather leave and finish the mission himself than deal with his teammates at that moment. In his luck, this was only heedful wishing.

"UGH! Kakashi sensei? I-" Naruto yawned.

"Shhhh..." the copy nin poofed to him side, hand over the blonde's mouth. Of course Naruto would be the first one to wake after him! _'You're not going to get me this time, karma_!'

"I thought Sakura was supposed to keep watch tonight," Naruto ended his sentence after his mouth was free of the fabric of Kakashi's hand guards. "Why are you up so early?" Naruto looked even worse than Sakura in the midst of awakening. Hair tousled, eyes still completely closed.... He reminded Kakashi of his fifteen-year-old reflection after his first experimental encounter with drugs. If Naruto looked this relaxed when waking, he should get back into that long-dead trend of drugs and rock'n roll. Or, not. Just a stray thought.

"Naruto, can you keep a secret?" Kakashi asked. The silver haired man's voice was barely audible to the kyuubi vessel. Sai had awoken in the midst of Naruto's question. It was good for him as long as he didn't have to wake him and take the chance of accidentally waking Sakura in the process.

His charcoal eye looked from one boy to the other until he was satisfied with their abounding head-shakes. "We're going back to the village as soon as possible. Don't let Sakura know."

"But, Kakashi sensei. If Sakura finds out she'll- she'll pummel me into the dirt! And wouldn't it be obvious if we're going in the opposite direction? She's not stupid ya' know." the sunkist boy's voice raised a few octaves causing the copy ninja to temporarily cover Naruto's mouth once more.

"She doesn't have to find out. Just act like this is a new A-class mission."

"But, what about the _real _mission?" Sai tossed team seven's tattered mission scroll to Kakashi for dramatic effect. Always doing the right thing...what he wouldn't give for Sasuke to be back on his team right now! _He _would have accepted this the moment he labeled it a mission, causing Naruto to do the same out of spite.

"This is more important. I'll explain it when we get to the hokage tower." Kakashi had a hunch, and a big one. He cared greatly for his teammates, though he wouldn't mind leaving at least _one _behind this time. He won't point fingers...._Sakura...._

If one of his members were acting strange, all was strange. Plus the fact that he wouldn't be able to make it through the rest of the original mission without a few swigs of scotch. Or a few bottles....whichever he had on him at the time- and temporarily he was dry. _Damn it_!

* * *

"Why are we going back to the village again?" Sakura asked, backpack dragging into the gravel road from her hanging arm.

"well...uh...we're-"

"Naruto whacked his head on a branch yesterday and obviously hasn't been talking right since." Sai interrupted the blonde's stuttering, whacking him in the back of the head in case Sakura needed proof of the bump.

"I'm being serious!" Sakura glowered towards Naruto and Sai behind her, then held her attention on Kakashi up ahead. "Well?" she instigated, placing a bored look onto her face.

"I got a message from the Tsuande last night when you were passed out. She wants to appoint us a different mission." Kakashi gestured a nod towards her direction. It seemed she had completely forgotten the argument they were having earlier. Kakashi hadn't.

Sakura had told Kakashi to hold her backpack for her. Him being the love-able teacher he was told the woman that she had no right to order him around. They soon found themselves in an argument over free will and serendipity. Sakura was very into free will now, he guessed. He was very into the new Sakura.

If he had found a woman of his own age that could hold her own in an argument with him, or even win- he's be married by now with little Kakashis' running a muck. And though he liked the new, spitfire Sakura it couldn't replace the gentle, old one. This had come to him after hours of wondering if he had chosen the right thing: heading back to the village. But after she grabbed his ass during a water break he _clearly_ was in the right.

Kakashi tore his eyes from the branches above their returning road, showing only a few lonely leaves of green left- and tried to focus his attention on the other surroundings. They were passing Wakeshimi village. Ruin, weeds, a few broken windows... It shocked him how quickly nature devours human places after they leave them. Nature can be a hungry monster at times. Not more than three years ago he had visited an old colleague at that very village, now it was nothing more than a deserted pervading of dilapidated buildings.

The shrine at the front gates was nothing more than what seemed a swallow of the ground. The man he had visited had died in the same year his village had. Was it mouning the loss?

He desperately longed for that vacation Tsunade had been promising...maybe with an extension of a few more days?? His hand wondered wantonly into his rear pack for his little, orange accomplice.

He shot his eyes automatically shot behind him when his search came up short to find a happy Sakura reading away innocently. She stole his porn and read it in front of his face? Did he not realize this because it was Sakura who did it? How long had it been since she took it? He vaguely recalled her hiding something behind her back when he asked her to stop giggling a few hours ago. He thought her muffled laughter was another strange thing happening.

So, it was the book....either that, or that she had gotten away with this without his noticing until now. He should have been angry. He was- at first- until she looked up and wailed with laughter after realizing she had been caught. How long had it been since she had laughed? _Really_ laughed.

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter doesn't do it for ya', length wise. I have to babysit for a few days and I'm sure you don't want to wait a week for another update...so I just decided to post what I had so far now.... I am hoping to get Sakura into the asylum next chapter and make it at least twice as long.....thanks...**

**Review! You know you want to see your name at the beginning of the next chapter!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Naruto or Kaganof.

Thanks for the reivews: White Eye Lover, darksoulwolf, LizzieStuck91.

...and the favorites/alerts: darksoulwolf, animefreak8292, stringed theories, theristia, darksoulwolf, , PrincessOfHeartsNYP, Indiana9311, espada-girl, LizzieStuck91, caseh-chan.

* * *

Method to Madness

chapter 4

* * *

_The whole damn thing was bull shit.  
__Everyone in the bar  
__Wanting, numbing.  
__What a disaster. And the applause thereafter.  
__Our father who art unplayable-  
__Our of order.  
__Your name unsay-able.  
__Random notes that scared me.  
__As much as the empty spaces that filled the so-called communications between the adults._

_Yeah, summertime was easy......_

* * *

How long had it been since she had laughed. _Really _laughed.

It's not easy, nor is it an easy matter to explain: how difficult it was to deny her. Maybe that she was the only constant female in his life? The fact was, she was off limits. To himself and to anyone else. He would make that clear to any man, either ninja or civilian.

It was not every day he had a beauty like that swooning towards his every word. It caused him to feel horribly animated. But the rush and fulfillment in denying her was more than he needed to keep doing so.

He let her enjoy her reading, even in the Hokage's quarters. Tsunade seeing her student- whether pride and joy or not- reading naughty novels would only help his argument. This he was sure.

* * *

"Why are you back so early?" Tsunade quirked a finely plucked brow at the male members of team Kakashi. The copy-nin had insisted he needed to talk to her alone, including Sai and Naruto. This had earned a scoff from an irate Sakura, who seemed to become abnormally melancholy of late. One good thing, Tsunade complied and sent Sakura to the waiting room with Shizune.

"Didn't you call us back for a different mission?" Naruto stood in his unusual stance, hands clasped behind his head. His face was scrunched towards the blond woman. Said face turned to Kakashi once the kyuubi container realized he had been deceived. "Liar!"

The silver jonin was thankful for the sound-proof door guarding him and Naruto's accusations from his new fan-girl (who he feared would never return his beloved book).

"I never did such a thing. Maybe you would like to explain why you have neglected the mission I had slaved over finding matches for?Do you know how long it took Shizune and I to find a team to take up this mission?! You will leave at once and complete it without pay!!" Tsunade's voice elevated a few octaves with each half-sentence.

"Why I would love to explain Hokage sama. Thank you for your hospitality." Kakashi bowed exaggeratedly. "I do not surrender in the middle of a mission for anything less than important. Whether you would find it important as well, or even believe me, is up to you. But you should take a hard look at your apprentice." he motioned his right hand towards the door behind him.

"I've been meaning to ask. Why are you so fixated on demoralizing my student? If you've forgotten I'll repeat myself." her scowl turned stern, if you could call it a scowl. "Keep your porn away from my student!!" her dangerous hands assaulted the mahogany desk.

"Why automatically jump to conclusions?." Kakashi asked. Tsunade leaned back in her seat, registering his tone and stance. "It was your student who stole my book when I was not looking. Why? I do not know. Do not ask me questions I do not have an answer for."

"Who do you think your talking to, Hatake?! Though I am wrong at times, I am still your superior! You will treat me with nothing less that the utmost respect!"

Kakashi sighed in defeat. "You are right, Hokage Sama. I am out of line and I apologise." He bowed, more apologetically this time. "But I do believe that my motive for returning with the rest of the team is substantial. I just need you to listen openly to what I have to say." he began. Tsunade waited a moment and nodded for him to continue.

"We have been attacked three times by enemy ninja in just the few days that we have been traveling and-"

"When did these alleged attacks start?" the large breasted woman questioned in her familiar gravely voice.

"Not long after we passed fire country borders." Tsunade nodded again and he continued. "All of these attacks were directed to Sakura. Being as we were to stay in groups of three, you could understand that with no communication, it would be difficult to keep tabs on each other. If they are targeting her because she is the medic, it is nothing new, but groups of three could pose a problem..."

"Just get to the point, Hatake." Tsunade ordered in her slightly raspy voice.

"The last group that attacked managed to fall back before I could make it. Pakkun was traveling with Sakura for the remainder of the mission, said they countered with a failed Jutsu." Naruto and Sai listened intently to the news. Kakashi had not told them the reason for returning early.

Kakashi sighed once more. "The thing is, I do not believe the Jutsu was a failure. I have never seen an interaction like this, but Sakura is not herself and I can not complete this mission until I am convinced otherwise."

Tsunade swirled her tea, counting the spoon's rotations. "I'll figure it out. If there is nothing wrong you will proceed with this mission as planned." she motioned for the three men to leave.

"Kakashi." Tsudane stopped him mid-stride, her raspy voice cutting the dim silence.

"Yes?"

"Arigatou."

* * *

"What was that all about?" Sakura asked after forcing her eyes away from a steamy love scene. The wide, green orbs showed no hint of real interest towards her own question. Kakashi wavered between telling her the truth or taking his beloved possession back from her clingy hands.

"Tsunade wants to talk to you." the silver haired man slumped into his normal seat and waited until he heard the door click behind the pink haired- deluded woman. "Naruto, Sai," he sighed heavily. "take a walk or something."

* * *

**sorry that this is so short, but I've been busy lately with a lot of atrotious things....and also i'm working on the tenth chapter of 'Monogamist' and i think it's looking really good so far...even better than this story, but i promise you that this will get even better soon XD.....**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Naruto......

**thank you to all of my reviewers: Readalot-TMB, Kagomaru, LadyNorth76, darksoulwolf, 's here, nicolerogersXX, PrincessOfHeartsNYP, Kanryu.**

**and to all the favorites and alerts: yunaza., Readalot-TMB, Sakti Creatrix Kali, Jack Meehoff, Chris's girl 14, Youkolvr, Kanryu.**

* * *

Method to Madness

chapter 5

* * *

_The fringing string holding down your soul  
Bach together I will knit  
Your skin, my skin  
Weak and thin  
Face contorted in a pleasurable grin  
With that addictive aroma I will linger  
Your ravaged pulse beneath my finger_

* * *

"Tsunade Sama wishes to speak with you." the silver haired man slumped into his usual seat and waited until he heard the door click behind the pink haired- deluded woman. "Naruto, Sai," he sighed heavily. "Take a walk or something."

The giant door to his right soon slammed shut in finality. Naruto would forget about this soon enough, Kakashi realized. He would take him out for ramen and all would be forgiven.

Right now, all that needed attention was in the process of being fixed.

Tsunade was a great ninja. She would definitely sense something was wrong. And if she didn't....well, he wasn't to think on such a thing. His faith in the Hokage's stature and his belief in her abilities would not change just because Sakura decided to change her persona. He would not let that happen.

Hopefully this is all a dream, Kakashi thought. When Sakura comes out she'll be normal again.

But, he knew he was only getting his hopes up for a downfall.

And he knew that when Sakura came out her hair wouldn't seem as vibrant and her eyes wouldn't sparkle like they used to. This was an oppressive thought to Kakashi because Sakura had always had the silkiest pink hair and very very pretty green eyes. The kind of green that didn't make a big deal about itself.

And he found himself wondering if he really wanted to see her again. If he really wanted to remember how she used to be and see what she had now become. It felt as if this would never pass and the rest of his life would be full of worry. Worry for his student but most of all worry for himself. He could just inagine the beguiling woman try to rape him in an alley on the journey back to his old, tattered apartment and he shivered in apprehension.

* * *

Kakashi hadn't looked at her directly since at the campfire, Sakura thought. The rosette woman couldn't remember what exactly happened whilst sitting there with Kakashi, Naruto and Sai snoring soundly in the backdrop. She just knew that she must have angered him.

This book was really good. A good mixture of romance and sex and a little bit of tragedy thrown in on a whim, she pondered that for a minute. She couldn't remember what it was called but she'd been reading it for a while now. She could easily tell you that from her tired eyes.

Tsunade's bracelet jingled with each finger that tapped impatiently on her desk. It distracted Sakura from her thinking long enough to remember she was supposed to be talking about something. Incidentally, she couldn't remember what it was she was to speak about. Her brain was fuzzy and aimless. As if she couldn't control her next thought. She wanted to tell Tsunade but knew she would be unable to put into words the way she felt. So she just settled on greeting the large-breasted woman with a chummy, if not shaky, 'Ohayou'.

"Kakashi says that you've been acting strangely lately. Why do you think he would apply such a thing to you of all people?" The blond woman dove in immediately, nodding her head towards the book Sakura was holding. It looked like she had a lot of work to do by the stack of forms and papers lining her desk and the floor near the filing cabinet. Sakura wouldn't blame her for cutting to the punch. She would as well if she only had a few more hours until they were to be finished. Tsunade had always been the lazy, procrastinating type.

"Well, if you ask me I'd say that _he's _the one acting very un-idiosyncratic for himself." She didn't know how she knew that word, but she knew what it meant now. Maybe it was just a stray memory. She had read the dictionary at the hospital many times whilst bored between shifts and lunch breaks. It being the only book she wouldn't feel ablidged to study. "Naruto and Sai haven't spoken to me since we split up into groups of three. That's no surprise for Sai but Naruto usually never shuts up. Did Kakashi say anything about that?" She just wanted someone to tell her the truth.

"No. I'll talk to him again soon. Don't think too much into Kakashi. He's not all there, if you know what I mean." the two women giggled simultaneously for a moment. "The man's just worried about you, Sakura. He's informed me of the last few days and the enemies you've encountered with the ninja hounds and it has me worrying as well."

"I'm fine-"

"Don't lie to me Sakura." Tsunade sighed heavily. Sakura noted her exasperated tone and wondered what she had done to bring it on. "I can tell you're not yourself. You should start eating right. I know about yours and Ino's diet battles and nobody needs to be _that _thin. Go home. Eat a nutritious meal, take a hot soak in the hot springs and see me in the morning. Kakashi has also mentioned that whatever is wrong with you had gotten worse in just one day. I've promised him and myself that I'd watch you and I will keep to that promise." Tsunade's raspy voice was unchallengeable. And Sakura wasn't hungry.

"Yes. Hokage Sama." Sakura bowed formally and packed her new book into her rear pouch. She was confused and angry and didn't know why. Which only added to her anger and confusion as she was careful not to slam the door behind her. She didn't want loud noises right now. Her brain was fuzzy again and she just felt like taking a steaming bath and reading the rest of her book. Thank Kami that that blond kid wasn't around. She was too tired to think of what she would to him if he was-

Kakashi.

Her blood seemed to simmer slightly at the sight of him. And not in a good or bad way. It was another grey area today.

"What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be out somewhere? It's seven o'clock, your time for gallivanting around the village."

"Where's my book?" She noted the man's stern face. He'd been thinking too much lately. And probably about useless things, as always.

"If you want it, you'll have to get it yourself." She didn't know why she said this but the look on his face kept her from apologising. He looked.....almost distilled. Worrying again, no doubt. "Well....? Get on with it. I have places to go. Things to do. Men to satisfy." she couldn't help but giggle. These words kept popping out like rabbits out of hats. And she was too tired and blurry to make an attempt st stopping it. Besides, Kakashi needed to loosen up a little.

His pose was rigid, Sakura perceived as he watched her lean herself coaxingly back onto Shizune's empty desk. Kakashi languidly lifted himself to his burdensome feet and coastly strolled towards her. He was still rigid in his pose when he bent his face down to her's- nearly a head shorter than him- his abdomen lightly brushing her chest. She wasn't sure you could even categorize it as a touch.

She could feel his even breaths adorn her cheeks in warmth through his mask during the time he leisurely wound his arm to her back, un-snapped her tan pouch, and once again retrieved his beloved novel from her dangerous grasp.

He'd been ignoring her for much too long now, she thought. Not emotionally, but physically. Did he notice her in _that_ way like she did him? She wanted him to see her. To _really_ see her and _want _her. She wanted to run her hands through his hair. She wanted to leave her mark on him and let every other woman acknowledge that she had taken Konoha's most wanted bachelor.

She wished she could drape her hands around his shoulders and neck and she _needed_ him to need the same from her. She would stop at nothing to have him. They would have to strap her down to a bed and sedate her before she rested this idea.

It was only good luck and minor fortune that Kakashi hadn't told Tsunade _everything. _She didn't need any distractions. She knew she had to have him since team seven awoke and mapped a premature course home that morning. Call her a rusher but she didn't really know why this was. All she knew was what her body wanted. And her body wanted him. Her body wanted his hips to grind in between her thighs.

He was still looking at her sternly. And he wanted her as well. If not, he would have turned and left once he obtained his book.

"You can kiss me, if you want." Sakura offered, tilting her head back slightly and trailing her hand under a thin cotton shirt- feeling small coarse hairs protruding from his chest and below his navel.

"Tsunade has be informed of this, Sakura." But he wouldn't move.

"If you were going to tattle, you would have done it already." the rosette woman whispered into her scarecrow's throat, clenching the exposed skin between her teeth and sucking lightly. She had never done this before but his gulp showed that she was doing something right. She was having an effect on him at least. She just needed to push a little more.

"Nobody likes a tattle-tale, Kakashi." she breathed into his shoulder harshly dragging her teeth across the rough skin there as the skin was too taught to nip and tug.

He clenched his book tighter butstill wouldn't move.

He wasn't pushing her away or pulling her closer. Sakura couldn't feel any signs other than his slightly elevated breathing that he was enjoying her or seeing her any more that previously.

She could feel her blood begin to simmer once more. She wanted to throw him against the wall and melt into him. She wished she could rip his head off and throw it onto Tsunade's desk for sadistic and ironic proof that she was herself. She had to be herself. If not, then who was she. She felt fine. Except for a little bump on her head and a confuzzled brain. She, at least, wasn't out being stupic. She was making sure she was indoors when it happened and in the presence of an adult. Tsunade wouldn't want her to be irresponsible, now, would she?

Sakura leaned back and pouted mockingly to her ex-sensei and got the same blank look from him as she did from her dog. She scowled at his insulting composure and crept her hand into his pants to _prove_ to him- if he hadn't already noticed- that he was indeed swayed by her actions.

Sakura smiled, intrigued when she found what she was searching for and wrapped her arm around Kakashi's neck- placing her hand wistfully upon his bare neck and leaning close to whisper tauntingly in his right ear.

"So....you're going to molest me in the hokage's assistance's office, Sakura?" Kakashi forced out raggedly, beating her to the punch. He was fighting her, she knew. He was thinking too much. He should just show a little initiative and maybe she would get bored and quit....this was _already_ starting to bore her.

"Honestly, Kakashi. I thought you knew me better than that." Her voice was slightly lower than before, Kakashi noted. Another beautiful thing that had been taked from the world. She sounded more mature than her young age. "_This _is all I ask of you." Sakura gave the nape of his neck a light squeeze and fondled him shortly inbetween his pants and boxers, then lifted her once wondering hand from his trousers.

"That's the problem. You didn't _ask_. You just did it."

"It was a euphemism. And you didn't stop me, now, did you?" she smiled a cat-like grin at his probing face. "It's all I plan to _take_ from you, then. For now, anyway. It's definitely all that intrigues me at the moment so don't act like it was anything other than what it was."

"And what was this supposed to be for you? A game. You don't know what your asking for, Sakura. Your not well and if I let you run the streets like this and you attempt to act the same way with anyone else you'll get yourself hur-"

"Oh, please, Kakashi." the rosette woman placed her hand on her neck as if it would hold her laughter. "That was just a warm-up. And if your suggesting that I stay with you so you can watch me more closely, it seems like you just want me all to yourself......Hmmm. That's actually not a very bad idea. I'll take you up on your offer and I will only stick you molesting you in closely monitored offices and your bedroom."

Sakura tapped the dumb-founded man on the nose before grabbing the book from his numb hand and walking to the exit.

"Where are you going?" he questioned the desk. He couldn't look at her.

"She swung the door open playfully. "Tsunade sama had ordered me to take a short trip to the hot springs. Care to join me?" This was a rhetorical question made to taunt him, he knew. And it worked. Kakashi couldn't stop himself from picturing what they could do in such a closed off area while Sakura strode out of the room and into the long corridor to the elivator. And from there to the first floor and them out the front enterence and towards Mishikishi springs a couple streets over.

Kakashi looked down on himself, noticing the swell his ex-student/nymphomaniac/stalker left him with and groaned at nothing in particular.

* * *

**sorry this is so short, but better that than a crappy chapter...**

**I actually tried very hard on this, I'm no good at high tension, which is why I chose to write this to get better. anyway, things will start kicking off in the next chapter, if you don't think they already have...XD**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!! **


	6. Chapter 6

......narutoI do not own

thanks to the reviewers: awiii, darksoulwolf, Kuarahy, tukixoxo,

and the alerts/favorites: ForsakenKalika, Kuarahy, tukixoxo, regin,

* * *

Method to Madness

chapter 6

* * *

_Fasten your seat-belt,  
This aircraft is crashing.  
There's a razor blade under your seat  
In case you get cold feet_

* * *

Ichiraku wasn't as calming as Naruto would have hoped. His palms were sweaty, leaving salty hand prints on the shiny table.

Sai had left for home after Kakashi's dismissal without more than a grunt of a goodbye. It bothered him that Sai wasn't bothered by everyone else's tense behavior.

Naruto needed a distraction. Normally he would have someone with him to mull over his feelings with but tonight was different. Every ninja he was on speaking terms with was busy with their own lives at the present time. _Lucky me_, he thought drolly and spun on his regular bar stool to look at the crowd.

He didn't know how long he was staring off for but he vaguely noticed that his ramen was no longer radiating heat through his clothes and onto his back. He wasn't in the mood to eat anymore and thought instead of leaving the money on the counter and taking a walk.

"The world is coming to an end." a lazy voice came from his left before he could bring himself to get up. He turned from the crowd to find Shikamaru, the genius himself, leisurely taking up the seat next to him.

Naruto spun again to his cold bowl of ramen. The noodles were soggy now and looked like the worms that the cat in the alley by his house used to poop out. _What ever happened to that cat? _he asked himself distractedly. He groaned and attempted a disgruntled grimace of disdain towards the neglected glass bowl. "What's that supposed to-"

"Easy, easy. I've just never seen you turn down ramen before. Especially if you have to pay for it." Shikamaru remarked, rubbing the back of his neck with a loud yawn. "So...." he continued smoothly. "What's eating you?" The man wiggled his eyebrows at the unusually down blond.

Naruto gave him a quick glance of acknowledgment and turned back to his bloated noodles. He was never good at lying. Especially if he had to look at the person he was fibbing to. "Nothing. It just doesn't taste as good as it used to." he told the bowl quietly. Naruto noted how raspy his voice sounded and tried to clear his throat quietly, hoping Shikamaru wouldn't notice.

"It's about Sakura, isn't it?" The chuunin leader prodded with a long sigh. He sounded un-interested, but urged the blond on all the same. Shikamaru was never one to let a friend wallow, no matter how tied up he was. And, being a jonin now, Shikamaru was _always_busy with something. Naruto knew he should just lie and let the man get back to his work. He didn't want to trouble him but also didn't want to be rude in telling him to leave.

"How do you always know?" Naruto asked, wide eyed. Was he a mind reader too? Naruto had heard of people so smart that they could actually develop supernatural powers.

"Because it's _always _about Sakura." he shrugged and sighed again, exasperatedly. "You really need to get out of all the girl drama and worry about yourself for a change, ya' know."

"Hmmm." was Naruto's thoughtful reply. He had fallen short of an answer. Was Shikamaru really the one to talk to about this kind of thing? "The thing is....er, well...um..." he scratched the back of his head innocently while conjuring up a way to arrange the words. Shikamaru waited patiently, reading the menu but still listening intently. Shikamaru was a very patient man, Naruto noticed some time ago, and decided then that Shikamaru was better than most to confide in.

"The thing is...." he was just gonna come out with it. "I think Sakura is sexually active..." Naruto whispered to him, causing the pineapple haired man to choke on a sudden glob of spit and cover his mouth.

"Wh-what?!" the brunette man managed to rasp out before Naruto went on.

"Sexually active!.." the blond practically yelled, bringing quite a lot of attention and a few giggles from passing girls to the shop.

"Keep your voice down, numb-skull! Do you want everybody to know or what?" lazy or not, he was still bashful. "Why would you think that anyway? Sakura doesn't really strike me as the type of girl to do that kind of thing without a ring on her finger."

Naruto groaned and sank his face into his hands. "Ai ont ooow!"

"Can't understand ya' buddy."

"I don't know." the whiskered man repeated flatly. "I saw her reading Kakashi sensei's porn earlier, she's probably still is and it kinds grosses me out and makes me want to laugh.....Oh! Yeah! _And _she groped Kakashi sensei's ass at the rest stop. Then on the rest of the way back home she didn't make fun of me or anything, which I should take to be a good thing.... She just flirted with out really saying or doing anything, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. Ino's on my team, remember?" They both chuckled at her expense. "I think your reading too much into this. So, she's reading porn. _Who cares? _I think it's kinda' sexy, personally. And if she grabbed his ass, she grabbed his ass. I've wanted to grab a few asses in my time as well. She just has more balls than I do. Maybe Kakashi has a nice butt..."

They sputtered into laughter.

"It's just gross. I mean, it's _Kakashi sensei_, man!" Naruto sighed loudly, wiping cheerful tears from his eyes.

"Better Kakashi than some guy you don't trust though. I understand that you're feeling protective of her since she _is _your teammate and all, but you can't keep her form everything. I tried to keep Ino and my little sister from dating guys, even Chouji helped, and it wasn't pretty. It actually put a small rift between our team. I still don't have Ino's complete trust even though she's going out with a great guy like Chouji now and I'm with Tamari." he paused briefly. "My advice to you is that you just stand by and make sure nothing bad happens without getting too involved or letting her know that you're worrying. It'll all work out soon enough." Shikamaru sighed and continued when the Naruto didn't respond.

He sighed and tried a different way of putting things for the blond man. "You've gotta' understand that Sakura isn't a girl anymore. She's a women now. And no matter how long you sit here and try to deduce what she's thinking or what she's up to, you'll end up getting the wrong answer like so many other men do with the women they care about. You'll never be able to understand women and you'll never be able to unlock their secrets. That's why they're secrets.... And I'm sure they all get some sick enjoyment out of confusing the fuck out of us. They say one thing and mean another. No means yes and yes means no. And sometimes no means no and yes means yes. But they'll never let you know when that is or when they want you to know it. So, just stop thinking about it and have faith in your teammate, Naruto." he calmly leaned back and tightened his ponytail.

Naruto thought about it for a moment.

"Thanks, Shikamaru."

"No problem."

"No, really. Thank you." Naruto smiled brightly and chuckled.

Shikamaru smiled back. "No problem, Naruto."

The calculating, brunette man ordered a bowl for himself and his always enthusiastic companion. "Does it taste better this time?"

"Definitely." Naruto looked down to his new, untouched bowl and smiled at nothing in particular.

* * *

Kakashi left the misleading building with his own personal raincloud in tow. He was so positive that Tsunade sama would fix all these problems within the day. Why was he so trusting in people? It only crushed the strongest men in the end.

He shouldn't have done what he did in there, he thought to himself desperately and banged his forehead against his apartment door. The walk home had been a blur.

He knew that he should not have done what Sakura had asked of him in that office. Now he was further into this than he thought possible. But he was only a man. Though he knew this argument would not stand strong in reality, it worked for him. He _was _only a man. And Sakura was a beautiful woman offering herself to him freely.

It took all the strength he had not to push her onto that desk right there and ravage her senseless. He knew she wouldn't have denied him....

But, one thought became foremost in his mind. And he was thankful to kami that it did at the exact time it did because he would have done exactly what his libido had told him to do.

He thought and knew that once Sakura came out of whatever was wrong with her, because she _would_, she would remember what he had done and the humiliation and betrayal she would feel would be enough for him to wish death upon himself. He was surprised at how strong he actually was.

He knew he was a strong ninja. One of the strongest in Konoha. But how strong he was at will power. Any other woman that did that would be in his bed at the present moment. It was only luck that kept Sakura out of his sheets.

Kakashi plopped onto his couch with a muzzled groan into his pillow.

"What's eating you?" Pakkun asked, feigning un-interest. The leader of Kakashi's ninken wasn't the type of pug to let his master wallow. Who would give him treats if Kakashi wasn't at his best? That was probably not a good reason to be so kind to his master. But at least he _was_ being kind, right?

"Nothing." Kakashi turned his head to breath fresh air. He needed a new couch, he realized distractedly. This one was starting to smell as old as it really was.

"It's about Sakura, isn't it?" the pug licked his nose and nudged his master's elbow.

Kakashi patted the small tracker and rubbed behind his ears before answering. "You know me so well..." he threw out sarcastically, sighing tiredly and rubbing his face. He also needed to give Pakkun a bath, he noted. His hand smelt worse than the couch now.

"It's always about Sakura... You wanna' talk about it?" Pakkun asked as softly as he could with his gravely voice and placed himself comfortably onto the small of his master's back. Being the pug's regular place to sleep at night......

"No, not at all." Kakashi yawned and dug his face back into the pillow. The smell was better than thinking about her. But he still wanted a new couch, he thought as he drifted into sleep.

Pakkun watched his master until he was sure his slumber was deep and stared out of the large bay window. For how much trouble this woman caused Kakashi, it felt to him like they were a married couple that didn't talk or live with each other. But, maybe that's just what human women did?

His master was good and kind. He wanted to do something for him to bring up his spirits. But what could a dog do, really?

Perhaps I'll stop chewing up his shoes, or rolling in his dirty clothes, the pug thought and planned to continue to keep watch over his master until morning. The moon would keep him company until then.

* * *

The night was becoming dark and chilly compared to the heat of earlier that very day. So much had happened in the last forty-eight hours... Sakura's head spun just thinking about it.

So she didn't think about it.

"Are you sure you want to soak right now? It's quite cold out and the hot springs have an open roof here....you might catch a cold with wet hair..." The old woman at the counter spoke questioningly like she thought Sakura was up to something she shouldn't be up to. The nerve of some people....

"I'll be fine. The springs are hot enough...I'll just run into the locker rooms after. Besides, I've heard this is the best place to relax." Sakura smiled fakely and chose her token. She didn't know what the tokens meant. Sakura wasn't the best at reading calligraphy, so she pointed to a random red block of wood about the width of a notebook with gold trimming and headed to the lockers.

She could only hope she didn't choose a mud bath. She was too embarassed to ask the shrivled lady what it said.

The place was void of life except for herself. Sakura retired of her clothes for a scantly towel and put her head in her hands and sighed and let the quiet put her thoughts away where they're supposed to be.

"Are you alright child? Would you like to wait a while or should I draw the bath now?" A gravely voice came from a few feet to her front. It was the clerk again with that face.

"Yes, I'll start now. Thank you." This woman was getting on her nerves. Can't a girl sit in a locker room and chill without all the multiple choice questions?!

She made sure the door was shut and mumbled 'old hag' underneath her breath.

It _was _chilly out, Sakura noticed again. Even more now that she was clad in only a sliver of thin fabric and her skin. But the steam from the bath water soothed her as she leaned over the edge. She was glad to smell green tea instead of mud. A tea bath would do wonders.

Sakura knew to wait until the water had cooled some but she decided to dip her legs in until then.

The waters were piping and felt as if they were cooking her flesh raw, but she didn't mind. Her calves tightened reflexively and relaxed slightly after adjusting. She breathed in the tea's aroma and sighed again.

Kakashi was probably drinking and fucking some whore. Sakura didn't know why she was thinking about this, but it was better than a lot of other choice thoughts at the moment.

The air blew from the west as dry and brittle as a lost contact lens. It seemed like time stood still and that dizzy controlling feeling was coming back. Sakura decided not to worry too much about it. It would pass soon like earlier today. She would talk to Tsunade about her mind gaps. She couldn't recall what had happened between Tsunade's farewell and walking out the entrance to the Hokage's Tower but she guessed she was just thinking too much again.

Thinking much too fast. It was becoming a hobby of sorts for Sakura and it fully took up her mind. She tried hard to remember but all that came up was a headache the size of a mountain. Too much thinking, definitely.

_'Just relax now and deal with everything else later.'_ She thought and lifted her legs out of the water. She walked over to the wooden seats and threw her towel down, then returned to peer over the waters once more before diving in.

Her reflection was of tiredness and anxiety. Normal, she thought depressingly. She needed more sleep. Perhaps she would take a weekend holiday with Tsunade's permission....

Sakura could hear children laughing in the streets and smiled, remembering when she used to laugh like that. Children could find joy in anything. It was a shame that adults forgot how to do that as they grew.

The laughing came close to the fence and stopped. Sakura thought it odd but disregarded the thought and squatted towards the steaming liquid in front of her, placing her hand out to touch her reflection.

Her head was foggy again and she liked it. She felt dreamy, like those days that you look in the mirror and you say a word that means a lot to you. And you end up saying it over and over again so much that nothing feels like it's real anymore. Like everything is slipping away and time has stopped again. She felt this. And when she touched her reflection it startled her that it actually rippled instead of staying placid.

She felt herself an idiot for believing that the water wouldn't move from her minustrations, but that's how she felt.

She sighed and watched the waters slowly settle. The steam was dismissing itself and the water was perfect now.

Sakura heard the laughter again and stared quizzically towards the tall fence. She tried to listen closer but her hearing was muffled and static-ey. She blinked sporadically a few times and when she opened her eyes she tried to see and saw nothing but the fence and the child behind it.

She shook her head and shut her eyes tightly and opened her eyes, breathing hard, but the only thing she was was the fence and it's old cracked lines again.

_I need to go home...._Sakura thought and put her hand to her neck, trying to keep her heart from pounding up into it.

Sakura let out her breath slowly and choked it back.

It was impossible. But her reflection was gone.

* * *

**thank you for reading...please review and tell me what you think.....**

**Next chapter will be when she's admitted into the asylum....so please be patient with me haha**


	7. note

I have reviewed all of my stories that are unfinished. So I am going to have to put some on HIATUS until I can finish them one by one.

First, I am finishing Natural Born Killers and then either Monogamist or Method to Madness. I'm not sure yet on the last two.

This is for the Outcasts will be on Hiatus until Natural Born Killers is finished and maybe even until one of the others is too. I don't know. But I'm trying to write five stories at once and it's not working.

I will be keeping While You Were Out running, though, because it is a short-story drabble and doesn't really get in my way :D

I might even re-do Monogamist and Method to Madness but I don't know about that either yet….

If you have any comments or questions, _please_ let me know so I can try and answer them or work with them.

plus, this will give me time to beta. So, if you need a beta, feel free to read my beta profile and see if you would like to work with me :) I'm kinda strict though, as you could probably guess haha!

I will post this on any other stories that are paused from this point on. But i only have two more chapters of Natural Born Killers to post so it won't be that long until i start them up again. But the only problem is that it has been so long since i started Monogamist and MtM and i have lost interest in their plots. They seem vague now that i am older and a better writer. But i will soldier on for you haha! :)))


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